July 2015

“Secrets Are Hard to Keep” by Saviour Pirotta, copyright © 2007 by Saviour Pirotta.
Reprinted by permission of Macmillan Publishers Ltd., UK. All rights reserved.
“Digging for Dinos”: Reprinted by permission of Cricket Magazine Group, Carus
Publishing Company, from CLICK magazine, May/June 2010, Vol. 10, No. 5, text copyright © by Charnan Simon.
“Why Do Animals Play?”: Reprinted by permission of Cricket Magazine Group, Carus
Publishing Company, from CLICK magazine, May/June 2007, Vol.10, No. 5, text copyright
© by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld.
“Honeysuckle House”: From HONEYSUCKLE HOUSE by Andrea Cheng. Copyright
2004 by Andrea Cheng. Published by Boyds Mills Press. Reprinted by permission.
“Aurora Borealis”: Text excerpts from Hopscotch Magazine, August/September 2003.
Copyright © 2003 by Hopscotch, an imprint of Bluffton News and Publishing Company.
Reprinted by permission of Bluffton News and Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
“Eli Escapes”: Reprinted by permission of LADYBUG Magazine, Vol. 23, No. 1, January
2013. Copyright © 2013 by Carus Publishing Company.
Developed and published under contract with the New York State Education Department by NCS Pearson, Inc., 5601 Green
Valley Drive, Bloomington, Minnesota 55437. Copyright © 2015 by the New York State Education Department. All rights reserved.

THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT / THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK /
ALBANY, NY 12234
With the adoption of the New York P–12 Common Core Learning Standards (CCLS) in ELA/Literacy and
Mathematics, the Board of Regents signaled a shift in both instruction and assessment. Starting in Spring 2013,
New York State began administering tests designed to assess student performance in accordance with the instructional shifts and the rigor demanded by the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). To aid in the transition to new assessments, New York State has released a number of resources, including test blueprints and specifications, sample questions, and criteria for writing assessment questions. These resources can be found at http://www.engageny.org/common-core-assessments .
New York State administered the ELA/Literacy and Mathematics Common Core tests in April 2015 and is now making a portion of the questions from those tests available for review and use. These released questions will help students, families, educators, and the public better understand how tests have changed to assess the instructional shifts demanded by the Common Core and to assess the rigor required to ensure that all students are on track to college and career readiness.
Released Questions Are Teaching Tools
The released questions are intended to help educators, students, families, and the public understand how the
Common Core is different. The questions demonstrate the way the Common Core should drive instruction and how tests have changed to better assess student performance in accordance with the instructional shifts demanded by the Common Core. They are also intended to help educators identify how the rigor of the State tests can inform classroom instruction and local assessment.
Understanding ELA Questions
Multiple Choice
Multiple-choice questions are designed to assess Common Core Reading and Language Standards. They will ask students to analyze different aspects of a given text, including central idea, style elements, character and plot development, and vocabulary. Almost all questions, including vocabulary questions, will only be answered correctly if the student comprehends and makes use of the whole passage. For multiple-choice questions, students will select the correct response from four answer choices.
Multiple-choice questions will assess Reading Standards in a range of ways. Some will ask students to analyze aspects of text or vocabulary. Many questions will require students to combine skills. For example, questions may ask students to identify a segment of text that best supports the central idea. To answer correctly, a student must first comprehend the central idea and then show understanding of how that idea is supported.
Questions will require more than rote recall or identification. Students will also be required to negotiate plausible, text-based distractors. Each distractor will require students to comprehend the whole passage.
2015 ELA Grade 3 Released Questions i

Short Response
Short-response questions are designed to assess Common Core Reading and Language Standards. These are single questions in which students use textual evidence to support their own answer to an inferential question.
These questions ask the student to make an inference (a claim, position, or conclusion) based on his or her analysis of the passage, and then provide two pieces of text-based evidence to support his or her answer.
The purpose of the short-response questions is to assess a student’s ability to comprehend and analyze text. In responding to these questions, students will be expected to write in complete sentences. Responses should require no more than three complete sentences.
The rubric used for evaluating short-response questions can be found both in the grade-level annotations and in the Educator Guide to the 2015 Grade 3 Common Core English Language Arts Test at http://www.engageny.org/resource/test-guides-for-english-language-arts-and-mathematics .
Extended Response
Extended-response questions are designed to measure a student’s ability to Write from Sources . Questions that measure Writing from Sources prompt students to communicate a clear and coherent analysis of one or two texts. The comprehension and analysis required by each extended response is directly related to grade-specific reading standards.
Student responses are evaluated on the degree to which they meet grade-level writing and language expectations. This evaluation is made using a rubric that incorporates the demands of grade-specific Common
Core Writing, Reading, and Language standards. The integrated nature of the Common Core Learning
Standards for ELA and Literacy requires that students are evaluated across the strands (Reading, Writing, and
Language) with longer pieces of writing such as those prompted by the extended-response questions.
The rubric used for evaluating extended-response questions can be found both in the grade-level annotations and in the Educator Guide to the 2015 Grade 3 Common Core English Language Arts Test at http://www.engageny.org/resource/test-guides-for-english-language-arts-and-mathematics .
CCLS Alignment
The alignment(s) to the Common Core Learning Standards for English Language Arts are intended to identify the primary analytic skills necessary to successfully answer each question. However, some questions measure proficiencies described in multiple standards, including writing and additional reading and language standards. For example, two point and four point constructed-response questions require students to first conduct the analyses described in the mapped standard and then produce written responses that are rated based on Writing standards. To gain greater insight into the measurement focus for constructed-response questions please refer to the rubrics shown at the end of this document.
These Released Questions Do Not Comprise a Mini Test
This document is NOT intended to show how operational tests look or to provide information about how teachers should administer the test; rather, its purpose is to provide an overview of how the new test reflects the demand of the CCSS.
The released questions do not represent the full spectrum of standards assessed on the State tests, nor do they represent the full spectrum of how the Common Core should be taught and assessed in the classroom. It should not be assumed that a particular standard will be measured with an identical question in future assessments. Specific criteria for writing test questions as well as additional assessment information is available at http://www.engageny.org/common-core-assessments .
One full-credit student response is provided with each released constructed-response question. The example is provided to illustrate one of many ways students can achieve full credit in answering the test question. The sample response is not intended to represent a best response nor does it illustrate the only way a student could earn full credit.
ii 2015 ELA Grade 3 Released Questions

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by Saviour Pirotta
One day, as Niel was strolling down the road, he spotted a snake trapped between two rocks. Niel hated seeing a creature in trouble. He pulled apart the rocks carefully so that the snake could slither away.
“I owe you a reward,” said the snake. “Hold out your hand.” And the snake dropped a snake tooth into his palm.
“Wear it around your neck,” he whispered, “and you’ll understand everything that animals say. But if you reveal your secret, the charm won’t work anymore.”
“I won’t tell anyone,” Niel assured him.
The snake flicked out his tongue. “Beware! Secrets are hard to keep, my friend.”
That night, lying on the cot next to his wife, Niel heard mice scurrying across the floor.
“Will we find any injera bread in this hut, I wonder?” one mouse squeaked at another. injera bread = a type of flatbread
Niel sat up in surprise, clasping his charm. He could understand the mouse’s squeaking.
“The people in this house never put food away correctly,” replied the second mouse. “We are going to feast like emperors.”
Niel couldn’t help laughing. The poor mice would be disappointed. He and his wife had eaten everything.
“Why are you laughing, Niel?” asked his wife.
“I can’t tell you,” replied Niel, remembering the snake’s warning.
In the morning, a milk seller knocked on the door of the hut.
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“I hope that these people aren’t foolish enough to part with their money,”
Niel heard one cat say to another. “The master has watered down the milk.”
Niel laughed out loud again. Being able to understand animals seemed to have a lot of benefits.
“What’s the big joke?” asked his wife. “Why can’t you tell me?”
“I have my reasons,” answered Niel. And he refused to say anything else.
Later that afternoon, Niel’s old aunt came to visit, riding on her big cow.
“It’s not fair, that woman riding on me in this heat,” the cow complained to a stray cat. “She’s heavier than a cartload of mangoes.”
Niel tried hard not to giggle. Aunt Sora would be furious if she found out what the big cow was saying about her!
“I’ve had enough!” fumed his wife. “If you don’t tell me what’s making you laugh, I’m going home to my parents.”
Niel didn’t want to lose his wife—he loved her too much. He told her his secret immediately, but his wife didn’t believe him.
Niel gave her the charm. “Here, you try it.”
But the charm had stopped working. Niel’s wife couldn’t understand what the animals were saying, and when he put the charm around his neck again, neither could Niel. The fun was over!
A few days later, Niel was resting under the mango tree when the snake slithered past.
“I see that you have revealed your secret, my friend.”
“I did it for my wife,” said Niel ruefully.
“True love should be rewarded,” said the snake. “Put out your hand again.”
The snake gave Niel a feather. “Wear it around your neck,” he said, “and you will be able to understand everything that the birds say. But do not reveal the secret to anyone, or the charm will stop working.”
“I’ve learned my lesson,” said Niel. “Nothing on this earth will make me tell again.”
The snake rattled his tail and laughed. “I told you that secrets are hard to keep, my friend. We’ll see how long you last this time.”
2015 ELA Grade 3 Released Questions

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Read paragraphs 3 and 4 from the story.
“Wear it around your neck,” he whispered, “and you’ll understand everything that animals say. But if you reveal your secret, the charm won’t work anymore.”
“I won’t tell anyone,” Niel assured him.
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Which word from paragraph 3 or 4 best helps the reader understand the meaning of the word “reveal”?
whispered understand tell assured
Key: C
CCLS: RL.3.4:
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, distinguishing literal from nonliteral language.
Percentage of Students Statewide Who Answered Correctly: 78%
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Why does Niel clasp his charm in paragraph 8?
He was afraid he would lose the charm.
He could understand what the mouse was saying.
He wanted to make sure the charm was still working.
He could understand how the snake felt about secrets.
Key: B
CCLS: RL.3.1:
Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.
Percentage of Students Statewide Who Answered Correctly: 80%
2015 ELA Grade 3 Released Questions 3

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How does Niel add to the problem in this story?
He invites his aunt to come visit.
He laughs at what the animals say.
He gives the snake tooth to his wife.
He helps eat all the food in the house.
Key: B
CCLS: RL.3.3:
Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.
Percentage of Students Statewide Who Answered Correctly: 49%
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Which paragraph best explains the powers the charm has? paragraph 3 paragraph 5 paragraph 28 paragraph 30
Key: A
CCLS: RL.3.1:
Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.
Percentage of Students Statewide Who Answered Correctly: 83%
4 2015 ELA Grade 3 Released Questions

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Read paragraph 31 from the story.
The snake rattled his tail and laughed. “I told you that secrets are hard to keep, my friend. We’ll see how long you last this time.”
Why does the snake say this to Niel?
The snake thinks the secret is funny.
The snake thinks Niel will tell someone the secret.
The snake thinks the wife will figure out the secret.
The snake thinks his friendship with Niel is more valuable than secrets.
Key: B
CCLS: RL.3.1:
Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.
Percentage of Students Statewide Who Answered Correctly: 70%
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Which statement best describes a lesson learned from this story?
Secrets can often be entertaining.
Secrets are not very useful.
Rewards should not be taken for granted.
Rewards can be more trouble than they are worth.
Key: D
CCLS: RL.3.2:
Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures; determine the central message, lesson, or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text.
Percentage of Students Statewide Who Answered Correctly: 48%
2015 ELA Grade 3 Released Questions 5

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While on vacation with his parents and digging for dinosaur fossils, Benny makes a surprising discovery—young boys are not the only creatures who lose teeth.
by Charnan Simon
Digging for dinosaurs was hot work. Benny sat back on his heels and took a long drink from his water bottle. At first, when Mom and Dad had told him they were going on a dinosaur dig for vacation, he’d been excited. He’d bragged to his friends that he’d find the skeleton of a never-before-discovered dinosaur. The Benosaurus , they’d probably name it.
But the real dig wasn’t at all what he’d expected. For starters, he wasn’t even digging. “No shovels,” Dave, the paleontologist in charge, told them.
“Any dinosaur bones buried here should be within a couple of feet of the surface. We don’t want to risk clunking around and breaking them.” Then he’d handed out ice picks and paint brushes and showed everyone how to chip and brush away sand and dirt, slowly and carefully, a little bit at a time.
“The most important thing is knowing where to look,” Dave said. “Some rocks aren’t old enough to have dinosaur bones. Other rocks are too old.
We’ve studied this area before and found lots of fossils, so I’m hopeful you’ll find some too!”
Well, that had been two days ago, and so far the most exciting thing
Benny had found was that his front tooth was loose. He wiggled it now. If he couldn’t find any dinosaur bones, at least he could show his friends back home that he’d lost another tooth.
Dave crouched beside Benny. “How’s it going?” he asked.
“OK,” Benny said. It didn’t seem very nice to say that he was bored. “This is pretty slow.”
Dave nodded. “Yep,” he agreed. “It’s hard work. Sometimes paleontologists and fossil hunters look for weeks without finding anything. And we hardly ever find a whole skeleton.” He added, “You know, Ben, if you’re tired of searching, you can always help someone else on the crew.”
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Benny looked around the dry, rocky hillside. Dave’s assistants were busy taking photographs and drawing pictures and making charts. Some were using GPS devices to make maps of the area. Some were writing in notebooks. Dave said it was important to take good field notes, to record exactly what you did and where you were when you looked for fossils.
Benny thought holding the GPS tool might be fun, but he wasn’t giving up. “I’ll keep looking,” he said. “But,” he added, thinking out loud, “the pictures always show dinosaurs in swampy places. Did they live in deserts, too?”
“Ahh,” said Dave. “Some probably did, but not around here. Millions of years ago, this wasn’t desert. It was wet and green and lush. The Earth’s changed a lot since the time of the dinosaurs.” Dave slapped Benny on the back and got to his feet. “Keep up the good work, Ben,” he said encouragingly. “I think today will be your lucky day!”
Pick, chip, brush, and sweep. Benny bent over his patch of rocky ground and carefully cleared away the sand and gravel. When he needed a break, he wiggled his loose tooth. The sun climbed higher and hotter into the sky. He was getting into the rhythm of things. Either that, or the heat was just making him drowsy.
And then it happened. “My tooth!” Benny said, surprised. He stared down at the dirt.
“MY TOOTH!” Benny whooped. “My dinosaur tooth! I found a real, live dinosaur tooth!”
Dave hurried over to look, careful not to disturb the ground in front of
Benny’s find. “Well, I’ll be!” he said. “It’s a tooth all right!”
“What kind is it?” Benny asked excitedly. “Is it T. rex ? Apatosaurus ?
Triceratops ?”
Dave laughed, but he kept studying the fossil in the ground. “Well, Ben,” he finally said, “I’ve seen a lot of dinosaur teeth, but this one’s different. I think you may have found one we haven’t seen before. Good job!”
2015 ELA Grade 3 Released Questions 7

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Based on paragraphs 2 and 7, a “paleontologist” is a person who mainly digs deep in the ground studies ancient animal bones leads a big team finds complete animal skeletons
Key: B
CCLS: L.3.4,a:
Use sentence-level context as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.
Percentage of Students Statewide Who Answered Correctly: 54%
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Read this sentence from paragraph 7.
He added, “You know, Ben, if you’re tired of searching, you can always help someone else on the crew.”
What does this show about Dave?
He is concerned that Ben may be feeling unhappy.
He hopes that Ben will work harder than he has been.
He needs Ben to work with some of the others in the group.
He is worried that Ben will become careless with the tools.
Key: A
CCLS: RL.3.3:
Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.
Percentage of Students Statewide Who Answered Correctly: 49%
8 2015 ELA Grade 3 Released Questions

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Paragraphs 9 through 11 show that Benny knows about changes that took place over time prefers working in cooler weather enjoys thinking out loud continues to work hard
Key: D
CCLS: RL.3.3:
Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.
Percentage of Students Statewide Who Answered Correctly: 58%
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Which paragraph shows a change in Benny’s feelings? paragraph 4 paragraph 8 paragraph 9 paragraph 12
Key: D
CCLS: RL.3.3:
Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.
Percentage of Students Statewide Who Answered Correctly: 53%
2015 ELA Grade 3 Released Questions 9

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How is the dig different from what Benny thought it would be?
Benny uses brushes rather than shovels.
Benny did not expect the land to be so hilly.
Benny did not expect to find so many workers.
Benny has to help the assistants.
Key: A
CCLS: RL.3.1:
Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.
Percentage of Students Statewide Who Answered Correctly: 60%
10 2015 ELA Grade 3 Released Questions

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Puppies love to run and tumble. They chase each other around the yard.
They wrestle and nip each other gently. A kitten will pounce on a toy mouse or leap high for a piece of yarn.
Why do animals play? For the same reason YOU play—because it’s FUN!
But there is more to animal play than just fun. For animals in the wild, play is important to their very survival. Young animals have to learn about their world. They have to exercise their muscles and practice all the skills they will need to be successful adults.
Sometimes a young deer will leap and frolic. With each twisting, twirling dance, the fawn’s legs are getting stronger. It is learning how to run fast and zigzag to confuse predators. That will keep it safe when it is time to leave its mother’s side.
While deer have to learn to escape from predators, young lion cubs must learn how to hunt. When a cub is little, it stalks its brother or sister. It will slink along on crouched legs. When the moment seems right, the cub pounces! The other cub bats back with its paws and wriggles free.
The cubs keep their claws in, though, and their bites are gentle. The cubs are not trying to hurt each other. They are playing at being great hunters.
This is practice for the real thing.
Wolves live in family groups called packs. When the pups are grown up, they will hunt together and watch out for each other. So, they must learn to communicate.
A wolf pup signals another pup that she wants to play. She stretches out her front legs and bows. She wiggles and wags her tail. As they play, both pups hold their mouths slightly open. That’s how they tell each other “yes, we are still playing!”
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Much like human children, young dolphins love to play with toys. Wild dolphins are very curious. They explore their world, looking for interesting items. A piece of seaweed might inspire a game. The frisky calves will chase one another, passing the seaweed from snout, to flipper, to tail.
When most young animals wrestle, race, or chase, it’s not about winning.
Each youngster is building its strength and skills. And they are learning to cooperate. If one youngster plays too rough, the others will let him know they are unhappy with his behavior.
Even when everyone cooperates, play can get dangerous. But animals play anyway! Young mountain goats live all their lives on steep slopes. The kids bump each other and butt heads in fun. If they’re not careful, kids can fall and hurt their legs or even break their bones. When they play, the young animals learn to keep their footing no matter what might happen.
Groups of young vervet monkeys sometimes sneak vervet monkey = a monkey with a black face away from the adults in their family. All wrapped up in their games, the little ones may not notice when danger is near. So an adult monkey will go looking for the straying youngsters. The adult will yell out a warning.
Watch out! Be careful! You’ve heard parents or teachers say these things when you play. Animals have to learn about the dangers in their world too.
Playing helps them learn. Playing helps them get along. Playing makes them strong and confident.
2015 ELA Grade 3 Released Questions

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Based on the article, what do all the young animals have in common?
They play in groups with other animals.
They need to prepare for when they are older.
They are able to locate items that interest them.
They let other animals know that they want to play.
Key: B
CCLS: RI.3.1:
Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.
Percentage of Students Statewide Who Answered Correctly: 56%
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Which definition matches the meaning of “frolic” as it is used in paragraph 3? to run around to find protection to learn by watching to walk next to its mother
Key: A
CCLS: L.3.4,a:
Use sentence-level context as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.
Percentage of Students Statewide Who Answered Correctly: 77%
2015 ELA Grade 3 Released Questions 13

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The word “stalks” in paragraph 4 shows that the lion cub follows silently moves quickly looks around bends down
Key: A
CCLS: RI.3.4:
Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 3 topic or subject area.
Percentage of Students Statewide Who Answered Correctly: 55%
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Paragraphs 3 through 5 support a main idea because they show how animals are different how animals escape trouble what animals need to learn that animals help each other
Key: C
CCLS: RI.3.2:
Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea.
Percentage of Students Statewide Who Answered Correctly: 55%
14 2015 ELA Grade 3 Released Questions

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Before wolf pups can hunt together, they must first discover new games learn to use signals practice with toys know how to race
Key: B
CCLS: RI.3.3:
Describe the relationship between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text, using language that pertains to time, sequence, and cause/effect.
Percentage of Students Statewide Who Answered Correctly: 76%
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Read this sentence from paragraph 9.
If one youngster plays too rough, the others will let him know they are unhappy with his behavior.
What does this sentence show about the animals?
The older animals introduce the games to the younger ones.
The larger animals are prevented from wrestling with the smaller ones.
The young animals enforce limits so that their games are safe for all.
The adult animals are nearby to make sure that no one gets hurt.
Key: C
CCLS: RI.3.1:
Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.
Percentage of Students Statewide Who Answered Correctly: 48%
2015 ELA Grade 3 Released Questions 15

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Which sentence best states a main idea of the entire article?
D
“For animals in the wild, play is important to their very survival.” (paragraph 2)
“Much like human children, young dolphins love to play with toys.” (paragraph 8)
“When they play, the young animals learn to keep their footing no matter what might happen.” (paragraph 10)
“Playing makes them strong and confident.” (paragraph 12)
Key: A
CCLS: RI.3.2:
Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea.
Percentage of Students Statewide Who Answered Correctly: 53%
16 2015 ELA Grade 3 Released Questions

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Ting has lived in China her whole life. A year ago, her parents moved to the
United States to try to make a better life for the family. Ting stayed back in
China with her grandparents. Now, it is finally time to be reunited with her parents. Her grandparents have prepared her as much as possible, and now, the big day has come. Ting will make the journey and, once again, be with her parents.
by Andrea Cheng
When Ma Ma left Shanghai for America, I didn’t know it would be so long before I saw her again that I forgot her smell. Not quite, but when I did finally see her, more than one year had passed and her smell had changed.
There was no more of her soft perfume along with the anise that she put in the soup. Ma Ma had a sharp soap smell instead. It was so anise = a plant that is used as a spice or herb strange to me that I almost didn’t recognize her.
The flight attendant brought me to her. I’d been asleep on the plane so my careful pigtails were all messed up. At first I wasn’t even sure that it really was Ma Ma, and I held tightly to the hand of the lady. Grandma Po Po had asked her to deliver me safely to my mother. I wasn’t scared. When Po Po told me to be brave on the long trip, I wondered why she said that. Sitting on a plane with a nice lady to watch over me wasn’t scary. But now when I smelled the sharp soap, I knew what she meant.
“Ting, you have grown so tall,” Ma Ma said, scooping me into her arms.
The lady left and tears came out of my eyes. “Don’t cry, Ting,” Ma Ma said, wiping my face with her palm. “We’ll go home and have some soup. Noodle soup to celebrate that you are in America.” I listened to Ma Ma’s words. Her voice was the same as I remembered it.
“Where is Ba Ba?” I asked.
“He had to go to Chicago. He’ll come back to see you very soon.” I tried to imagine how my father looked, but all I could remember was the smoky smell of his clothes. I held tightly to Ma Ma’s hand as we went through the
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12 airport. The voices around us were so flat. No up and down sounds. When I was in Shanghai, Uncle said I should learn English. He found an English teacher who came to our apartment every Wednesday and Friday after school. She had ten English books and I finished all of them. But at the airport, I didn’t hear the words in my books.
I gripped Ma Ma’s hand, so much smoother than Po Po’s.
The noodle soup was almost the same but not quite. In my mouth it was fine, but the smell was not right. I had only a few spoonfuls.
“You don’t like soup anymore? Now you like meat?”
I shook my head. The room was spinning. The kitchen stove was gigantic.
It even had a door like a room.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“Oven,” Ma Ma said in English. She explained in Chinese. “It gets very hot inside.” In Shanghai, we didn’t have an oven. Po Po cooked everything on an electric hot plate on the landing. Soup, noodles, everything. Ma Ma showed me my bed. It had a blue plaid blanket on it. The room was like a closet with a small window at the end.
“Can I sleep with you?” I asked. In China I slept with my cousin Hong.
She took all the covers and pushed me into a small space against the wall, but still I was not alone.
“In America you have your own room,” Ma Ma said.
The bed was so fresh and new. My nightgown had the same soapy smell as the noodles. The air was too quiet.
2015 ELA Grade 3 Released Questions

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Primary CCLS: RL.3.3:
Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.
Secondary CCLS: L.3.1 and L.3.2
Statewide Average Points Earned: 0.96 out of 2
See Short-Response (2-point) Holistic Rubric and the full-credit sample student response.
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Why does Po Po tell Ting she needs to be brave? Use two details from the story to support your response.
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Score Point 2 (out of 2 points)
This response makes a valid inference from the text to explain why Po Po tells Ting she needs to be brave (in America there were different cultures). The response provides a sufficient number of concrete details from the text for support as required by the prompt (when Ting was smelling a sharp soap smell,
instead of a soft perfume along with the anice and the voices were very flat with no ups and downs). This response includes complete sentences where errors do not impact readability.
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Primary CCLS: RL.3.5:
Refer to parts of stories, dramas, and poems when writing or speaking about a text, using terms such as chapter, scene, and stanza; describe how each successive part builds on earlier sections.
Secondary CCLS: L.3.1 and L.3.2
Statewide Average Points Earned: 1.03 out of 2
See Short-Response (2-point) Holistic Rubric and the full-credit sample student response.
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Additional
Why is the noodle soup important to the story (paragraphs 3 and 7)? Use two details from the story to support your response.
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Score Point 2 (out of 2 points)
This response makes a valid inference from the text to explain why the noodle soup is important to the story (it made Ting know that Ma Ma had changed). The response provides a sufficient number of concrete details from the text for support as required by the prompt (the soup didn’t smell the same and
there was an oven instead of an electric plate). This response includes complete sentences where errors do not impact readability.
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by Jane Sullivan
It’s winter in Alaska—midnight—nine degrees above zero. And yet, there are people—grown-ups bundled against the cold; children are clothed in scarves, gloves, and fur-lined boots, outside, looking at the sky. Why? It is because the sky is putting on a show for them, a show we call the northern lights. Scientists call it the aurora borealis.
Sometimes the northern lights are soft clouds of white. Sometimes they dance across the sky in streaks of blue and green, yellow and red. What causes the northern lights? Why can they be seen only at night? And why do they change from night to night?
Scientists give us some answers. The Earth is a huge magnet, with two poles, the North Pole and the South Pole. The sun has storms that send out streams of tiny particles called electrons. Scientists call this stream the solar wind. It races off into space and is pulled toward our two poles by their magnetic force.
Reaching the Earth’s atmosphere, the wind hits a stone wall, the magnetic field that surrounds the Earth, called the magnetosphere. Energy from the solar wind creates an electric charge. That is what makes the aurora borealis, or northern lights, near the North Pole; the aurora australis, or southern lights, are near the South Pole.
What makes the different colors? There is an easy answer for scientists.
We’ve seen different-colored, neon signs. Imagine such huge lights hanging high in space—100 miles high. When electricity heats up gases, they turn colors. The electric charge in the magnetosphere goes through nitrogen in the air, and it glows with a blue light. Oxygen turns green or sometimes red.
The stronger the solar wind, the stronger the electric charge and the more colorful the aurora are.
Because the southern aurora can be seen only in or near Antarctica, most people see the northern lights. To see them best, people look for them in
2015 ELA Grade 3 Released Questions 23

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September or March. At that time, there are 12 hours of darkness, and the solar winds are usually stronger.
But why is this only at night? The auroras shine all day and all night, just as stars do. During daylight, the sun outshines them. The best time to see the northern lights is between midnight and 2:00 a.m. Is it worth staying up that late? You bet, especially when the solar wind is so strong that the lights are as colorful as they can be.
The northern lights take on different shapes: shimmering curtains, colored clouds twisting and turning, and arcs of colors covering the entire sky. They appear close to the North Pole. If you do not live in places like
Alaska, Norway, or Canada, you probably won’t see them. But you can see pictures of them on an aurora website.
Our world is filled with beautiful sights. A midnight sky filled with color in a cold, cold climate is one of the most beautiful.
24 2015 ELA Grade 3 Released Questions

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Primary CCLS: RI.3.8:
Describe the logical connection between particular sentences and paragraphs in a text (e.g., comparison, cause/effect, first/second/third in a sequence).
Secondary CCLS: L.3.1 and L.3.2
Statewide Average Points Earned: 0.90 out of 2
See Short-Response (2-point) Holistic Rubric and the full-credit sample student response.
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Why does the author ask questions throughout “The Aurora Borealis”? Use two details from the article to support your response.
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Score Point 2 (out of 2 points)
This response makes a valid inference from the text to explain why the author asks questions throughout “The Aurora Borealis” (to get you want to learn more and to get you curious). The response provides a sufficient number of concrete details from the text for support as required by the prompt
(what makes the different colors? and why can they only be seen a night). This response includes complete sentences where errors do not impact readability.
2015 ELA Grade 3 Released Questions

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Primary CCLS: RI.3.2:
Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea.
Secondary CCLS: L.3.1 and L.3.2
Statewide Average Points Earned: 0.97 out of 2
See Short-Response (2-point) Holistic Rubric and the full-credit sample student response.
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What is a main idea of “The Aurora Borealis”? Use two details from the article to support your response.
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Score Point 2 (out of 2 points)
This response makes a valid inference from the text to identify a main idea of “The Aurora Borealis”
(come see the northen lights). The response provides a sufficient number of concrete details from the text for support as required by the prompt (the stronger the solar wind, the more colorful the auroras
are and it is worth staying up late because a midnight sky with a cold climate is one of the most beautiful).
This response includes complete sentences where errors do not impact readability.
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by Suzanne W. Paynter
“Mom, why do we always have to wait in line?” asked Eli. He slumped against the grocery cart.
“We’re waiting our turn,” said Mom.
Eli sighed and rolled his head back to stare at the ceiling. An escaped pirate balloon bobbed up and down against the flat white lights. One of the pirate’s eyes was covered with a coal-black patch, and the other winked down at Eli.
If I were a pirate, I wouldn’t have to wait in line, thought Eli. He flashed his jeweled saber and shouted to the trusty crew, “Aarrr, maties! Clear the bloomin’ decks!”
A band of swashbuckling pirates dashed through the line of shoppers.
They danced a feisty jig and tossed gold doubloons in the air. While shoppers chased the rolling coins, Eli and Mom rushed to the front of the checkout line. They escaped in a magnificent pirate ship and sailed the seven seas home. There, Eli searched for hidden treasure with his friend, Max, for the rest of the afternoon.
Pirates never had to wait in line at the grocery store.
“Let’s go, Eli,” said Mom as they left the checkout line. “We need to stop at the bank.”
“Will there be a line there, too?” asked Eli.
“Maybe,” said Mom.
“Aargh,” grumbled Eli.
The line at the bank looked even longer than the grocery store line.
Whoosh! What was that sound? Eli peered over the bank counter to the drive-through. Customers were placing plastic tubes in some sort of portal,
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Starship commanders don’t have to wait in line at the bank, thought Eli.
He switched on his light laser and flipped open his star command communication device. “Command Control, come in! We’ve got a long line here at Galactic Bank. Please send backup!” he ordered.
A fleet of starships swooped down to the bank parking lot. The people in line rushed out the door to gape at the sleek, blinking starships. “Can we have a ride?” they begged. While the starship commanders took turns giving rides, Mom and Eli swept to the front of the line. Eli whisked out his teletransporter gadget and beamed them home to watch back-to-back episodes of Star Guys Planet.
Starship commanders never had to wait in line at the bank.
“Eli,” said Mom as they left the bank, “want to pick up dinner at Burger
Barn on the way home?”
“Will we get to wait in line?” asked Eli.
“Possibly,” said Mom.
Eli smiled.
They left the bank and zoomed over to Burger Barn, where the line was longer than a clippety-cloppin’ mule train. But Eli didn’t mind. Cowboy sheriffs never have to wait in line at Burger Barn!
“Please step aside, mister. Step aside, ma’am.”
Sheriff Eli tipped his ten-gallon hat, gave his silver spurs a whirl, and swaggered to the front of the line. No one minded. Sheriff Eli was the hero of
Goldtown.
“Have you caught any cattle rustlers today, Sheriff?” the pigtailed waitress asked.
“Only ‘bout twenty or thirty. Got ‘em all locked up so Goldtown is safe once more.”
Everyone in Burger Barn whooped and hollered.
“All in a day’s work,” said Sheriff Eli. “Now my throat’s full of trail dust, and my belly’s growlin’ somethin’ fierce.”
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While he waited for his food he let the young ‘uns twirl his sparkling silver spurs and tie knots in his lasso.
“Thank ye kindly,” he said to the Burger Barn waitress. She piled on extra fries. Sheriff Eli tipped his hat and rode off into the sunset eating his Golden
Chicken Nuggets, French fries, and milk.
“O.K., Eli, let’s go,” said Mom.
“Wh-what?” said Eli.
“We’re finished with our errands for today,” said Mom. “How about meeting Max at the park?”
“Max, me matey?” said Eli. “Bloomin’ great idea!”
“You might have to wait in line for the slide.”
“Star command check!”
“And maybe the swings, too.”
“Always glad to step aside until my turn, ma’am,” Eli drawled.
Mom laughed as Eli hoisted himself into the car and swashbuckled his seatbelt. She fired up their sleek galactic starship and they followed the winding, dusty trail to the park.
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Primary CCLS: RL.3.4:
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, distinguishing literal from nonliteral language.
Secondary CCLS: L.3.1 and L.3.2
Statewide Average Points Earned: 0.85 out of 2
See Short-Response (2-point) Holistic Rubric and the full-credit sample student response.
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Additional
Why does the author use the word “swaggered” to describe Eli in paragraph 22? Use
two details from the story to support your response.
Score Point 2 (out of 2 points)
This response makes a valid inference from the text to explain why the author used the word “swaggered” to describe Eli (cowboys “swagger” instead of walking normally, to be cool). The response provides a sufficient number of concrete details from the text for support as required by the prompt (in Burger
Barn, Eli is petending to be a cowboy. “Cowboy sheriffs never . . .” and he has a “ten-gallon hat”). This response includes complete sentences where errors do not impact readability.
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Eli and his mother visit different places in the story. What places do they visit? Why are these places important to the story? Use details from the story to support your response.
In your response, be sure to
• tell the places Eli and his mother visit in the story
• explain why these places are important
• use details from the story to support your response
34 2015 ELA Grade 3 Released Questions

Primary CCLS: RL.3.3:
Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.
Secondary CCLS: W.3,2, L.3.1, L.3.2, L.3.3, and L.3.4
Statewide Average Points Earned: 1.59 out of 4
See Extended-Response (4-point) Holistic Rubric and the full-credit sample student response.
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Eli and his mother visit different places in the story. What places do they visit? Why are these places important to the story? Use details from the story to support your response.
In your response, be sure to
• tell the places Eli and his mother visit in the story
• explain why these places are important
• use details from the story to support your response
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2015 ELA Grade 3 Released Questions

Score Point 4 (out of 4 points)
This response clearly introduces a topic in a manner that follows logically from the task and purpose
(Eli and his mother visit different places in the story and first they went grocery shopping, then they went
to the bank, last they went to Burger Barn). The response demonstrates comprehension and analysis of the text (These places are important in the story because all of them had long lines. And Eli got more
and more patient by using his imagination). The topic is developed with relevant, well-chosen details throughout the essay (imagining he was a pirate, when he imagined a starship commander, then got to go in front of the line, while he was imagining time flew by and it was time to go and now Eli does not mind
waiting in lines). Related information is clearly grouped together and ideas are skillfully connected using linking words and phrases (For example, first, then, last, And, Another example, Also, Or). The concluding statement follows from the topic and information presented (those are the places Eli and
his Mom visited and why they are important). The response demonstrates grade-appropriate command of conventions, with few errors.
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Score
2 Point
1 Point
0 Point*
2-Point Rubric—Short Response
Response Features
The features of a 2-point response are
• Valid inferences and/or claims from the text where required by the prompt
• Evidence of analysis of the text where required by the prompt
• Relevant facts, definitions, concrete details, and/or other information from the text to develop response according to the requirements of the prompt
• Sufficient number of facts, definitions, concrete details, and/or
• other information from the text as required by the prompt
Complete sentences where errors do not impact readability
The features of a 1-point response are
• A mostly literal recounting of events or details from the text as required by the prompt
• Some relevant facts, definitions, concrete details, and/or other information from the text to develop response according to the requirements of the prompt
• Incomplete sentences or bullets
The features of a 0-point response are
• A response that does not address any of the requirements of the prompt or is totally inaccurate
• A response that is not written in English
• A response that is unintelligible or indecipherable
• If the prompt requires two texts and the student only references one text, the response can be scored no higher than a 1.
* Condition Code A is applied whenever a student who is present for a test session leaves an entire constructed-response question in that session completely blank (no response attempted).
2015 ELA Grade 3 Released Questions

2015 ELA Grade 3 Released Questions
L.3 L.6
L.1 L.2
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